This reminds me of my communist student teacher. I'm going to send it to him. I say "communist" with love, but he's really a philosophical anarchist. He can't say that out loud. No one understands. He's a purist in the best sense.

Communism is impossible...it was always envisioned as the utopia at the end of the socialist rainbow. Theoretically impossible--"to each his ability to each his need." If each works to his ability, theoretically someone is working more. Eventually the system comes to a grinding halt because more-worker gets jealous that less-worker gets as much as him. And does just a little bit less. When everyone does just a little bit less, production decreases.

Also, the nepotism involved in assigning jobs guarantees incompetent people in jobs. How's that different from the US, you might ask... Well, if there's also the need to shoot people when they fall out of favor, then what you get is a healthy dose of scapegoatism. Which also slows production to a grinding halt (yes, that's the part I've compared to the current state of American education... http://cafecasey.com/2013/04/11/teach-like-a-soviet/

The only true notion of "communism" is in true religion--not the type where Roman Catholic Church sponsors the Crusades, but the type where historical religious heads urge their people to truly put in what they can and advise they will be provided for... in the purest sense. Not cults, not communes...

I love to study communism, though, because there's always such a cycle of optimism, followed by a purge, with this underlying entrepreneurial second economy/black market that keeps the system afloat when it really should have crashed long ago... Another reason to encourage vision and entrepreneurship in schools. But I digress.

@Tina--there are jobs under Communism. You're assigned a job. People are sensitive about that--I lived in (just post communist) Russia. It was considered terribly rude in conversation for me to ask "So, what do you do for work?" People got sensitive about it because no one really got to pick. They were just starting to be able to do that... Conversely, they'd ask me how much money I had/made. I was taken aback. But for them, being able to control your salary through job choice was fascinating. Also interesting--the types of jobs that earned you respect. Even then... Pretty much the opposite of what we'd consider high on the ladder here.

Oh, you're right. It's why you have such an institutionalized system. I worked w "refugees" here. Most of the Russian refugees had, like, eight Ph.Ds but were astounded by the concept of choosing a doctor. Their kids, though, were the best entrepreneurs I knew--could work any system. Both generations, brilliant. But you have to get used to the concept of choice w/o fear.